WASHINGTON  A Florida computer engineering professor and seven other men were charged Thursday with overseeing and financing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, which has been blamed for killing more than 100 people in Israel and adjacent territories.

The University of South Florida professor, 45-year-old Sami Amin Al-Arian, and three other U.S. residents were arrested after the 50-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa, Fla. The indictment describes Al-Arian as the Islamic Jihad's U.S. leader, head of a terrorist cell in Tampa and secretary of the group's worldwide council.